(204d) Membrane chromatography: A Story from Conceptualization to Commercialization

The advantages of using membranes as chromatography media for the downstream purification of biologics was highlighted beginning in the early 1990s. Convective transport of biomolecules to binding sites within a macroporous membrane enables rapid processing using membrane columns, with orders of magnitude shorter residence times than standard resin-packed columns, and capacities that are insensitive to flow rate. At process scale, this fast operating speed already has led to widespread adoption of membrane columns for polishing step purifications to remove product and process related impurities. However, the adoption of membrane chromatography for capture step purification has lagged in part due to the low binding capacities that were afforded by early generation membranes.

In this presentation, I will tell the story of our journey to overcome this technology challenge and fully unlock the potential of membrane chromatography to enable unrivaled, fast and cost-efficient purification of proteins, nucleic acids, and other biological products. In chapter one of this story, I will tell you about the central innovation that enabled the synthesis of membranes that could rapidly purify biologics with capacities as high as resin columns. In chapter two, I will share how that innovation inspired a start-up company and offer a few words-of-“wisdom” for the entrepreneurs in the room. Finally, in the closing chapter, I will speak about the fortunes of good timing, the successful exit, and how that original idea from a university laboratory sparked the development of a portfolio of commercial products that I believe will revolutionize how biological products are purified.